Sparking device for explosive-engines.



9 N0 7|0,77l T. s. GLOVE-R- Patented Oct 7, l 02 SPARKING DEVICE FOR EXPLOSIVE ENGINES.

[Application filed Apr. 15, 1901. Renewed Apr. 16, 1902.) (No Model.) 2 SheetsSheet I.

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N0. 710,77l. Patented Oct. 7, I902.

T. S. GLOVER.

SPARKING DEVICE FOR EXPLUSIVE ENGINES.

Application filed Apr. 15, 1901. Renewed Apr 16, 1902.)

2 SheetsSheet 2.

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UNTTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THEODORE S. GLOVER, OF EASTNORXVALK, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO CYRUS E. ORABBE, OF STAMFORD, CONNECTICUT.

SPARKiNG DEVICE FOR EXPLOSlVE-ENGINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 710,771, dated October 7, 1902. Application filed April 15. 1901. Renewed April 16, 1902. Serial No. 103,201. (No model.)

To (bZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, Tnnononn S. GLOVER, a citizen of the United States, residing at East Norwalk, county of Fairlield, State of Connecticut, have invented a new and useful Sparking Device for Explosive-Engines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to gas-engines of the explosive type in which the charge of the explosive mixture is ignited by means of an electric spark obtained from two electrodes within the cylinder of the engine.

The object of my invention is to provide the electrodes with moving or movable con- :5 tact-points, one of which'is adapted to draw or wipe across the other in order to draw an elongated spark.

A further object of this invention is to provide means whereby the speed of the drawing or wiping action may be varied.

To these ends my invention consists in the construction and combination of parts, substantially as hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents an end view of a portion of a cylinder of a gas-engine having my invention in one of its embodiments applied thereto. Fig. 2 represents a detail elevation lookingin the 0 direction of the arrow 2 in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 represents an elevation, partly in section, from the outside of the cylinder. Fig; 4 represents a perspective View of the principal working parts of my device separated from 5 the engine-cylinder.

Similar reference characters indicate the same or similar parts in all of the figures of the drawings.

A portion of the cylinder is represented at 10, and the two sparking contact-points or' electrodes 11 and12 are located inside said cylinder, near one end thereof, as indicated. These electrodes are mounted upon or formed integral with two rock-shafts 13'and 14, re- 5 spectively, said shafts extending through to the outside of the cylinder and mounted in suitable bushingsor bearings therein. The bearing for the shaft 13 is represented in Fig. 1 as a threaded bushing 15, screwed into a suitable threaded opening in the cylinder and having its head 16 bearing on the outer side thereof. A nut 17 is employed to clamp between it and the head 16 a plate 18 in the form of a washer,having a lateral projection carrying a screw'19, by means of which one of the circuit-wires is connected. Said plate and the bushing are suitably insulated, so that the current from the wire and the attaching-screw 19 to the electrode 11 cannot pass to the cylinder or any part of the engine. I have not deemed it necessary to illustrate the insulating material, since it may obviously be located and employed where necessary.

On the outer end of the shaft 13 is secured an arm 20, and loosely mounted on said shaft adjacent to arm 20 is a plate 21, having an arm 22 extending rearwardly from said plate and parallel with arm 20, the arms 20 and 22 being adjustable toward and from each other by a screw 23, passed through the arm 20 and screwed into the arm 22, said screw havinga head 24, and a set-nut 25 being employed to secure the adjustment made. As will be now understood, this construction provides means whereby a limited adjustment may be obtained in the radial position of the plate 21 on the shaft 13 relatively to the electrode 11. As indicated by the dottedlines in Fig. 1, the plate 21 is cut away Where mounted on the shaft, so as to form a space for another arm 26, to be mounted freely on said shaft, said arm 26 having a plate 27 which projects outward over the plate 21, as shown in Fig. 4; A spring 28 is coiled around the hub of 8 the arm 26 and has its ends bearing, respectively, upon the upper side of the arm 26 and the under side of the plate 21, said spring being contractile to normally press the plates 21 and 27 together, but this construction permitting the plate 27 to yield upwardly or away from the plate 21.

Secured to the plate 27 is a block or arm 29, to the outer end of which is pivotally connected the upper end of a rod 30, which re- 5 ceives reciprocating motions at-the proper times from any suitable or preferred moving part of the engine, the construction being such that the reciprocations of the rod 30 will impart swinging movements to the electrode 11 through the yielding and adjustable connections described.

The rock-shaft 14 of the other electrode or contact-point 12 is mounted in a suitable hearing, as indicated conventionally in Fig. 1, and has secured to its outer end an arm 31. (Best shown in Fig. 3.) This arm has projecting from it a stud 32, which is adapted to have the under side of its point engaged by the edge 29 of the block or arm 29 when the latter is movingupward, as will be obvious by comparing Figs. 1 and 3. This movement of the block or arm 29 oscillates the rockshaft 14. through the stud 32, so as to carry the electrode 12 from the position shown by full lines in Fig. 2 to the position indicated by the dotted lines in that figure, after which the edge 29 slips past the end of the stud and permits the latter to descend or return, as presently described. To secure the movement of the arm 31 and the stud 32 from the position shown by dotted lines in Fig. 3 to the position shown by full lines of that figure, I preferably employ two plate-springs secured to a boss or stud 33, formed on the cylinder. Of these springs the inner one, 34, is preferably flat, so as to lie squarely along the edge or flat side of the arm 31 to hold it in the position shown by full lines in Fig. 3. The second or outer spring 35 is best curved substantially as shown, so as to bear only upon the upper end of the arm 31, either directly or through the end of the spring 34. To enable the arm 31 to be freely swung in a direction to the right in Fig. 3 and to resist the return movement, I employ a dash-pot device, which may be of the form illustrated. This consists of a cylinder 36, secured to the outer side of the cylinder 10 and having a valved plunger 37, connected to the arm 31 by a link 38. The end or bottom of the cylinder 36 is formed with a small port 39, the passage through which may be restricted more or less by a needle-valve 40. By adjusting the valve 40 the speed with which the springs 34 and 35 are able to move the arm 31 may be controlled or varied in an obvious manner to vary the length of the spark obtained. The move ments imparted through the rock-shaft let, as just described, to the electrode 12 cause the latter to oscillate and sweep across the upper edge of the electrode 11 with a greater or less speed, according to the adjustment of the needle-valve 40, as will be readily understood. The electrode 11 during its oscillating movements swings between the full and dotted line positions indicated in Fig. 2, the dotted-line position being substantially that which it occupies while the electrode 12 is sweeping across it, while the full-line position indicates that to which it moves when swinging to get out of the way of the rising movement of the electrode 12.

I have referred above to the substantial position of the electrode 11. By this I mean that the electrode 11 being yieldingly mounted through the medium of the spring 28 is free to yield suificiently from the dotted-line position in Fig. 2 to permit the end of the electrode 12 to sweep across it with a wiping action.

It will now be understood that I have provided two movable contact-points or electrodes which are self-ad justin g in their operative relation to each other; also, that I have provided means whereby an extremely quick wiping contact may be obtained; also, that I have provided a sparking device in which the electrodes cannot be left in contact, so as to exhaust the battery, this last being due to the fact that no contact can commence until after the edge 29 has lifted the stud 32 and passed it and released it, immediately after which the springs 34 and 35 cause the electrode 12 to move from the position shown by dotted lines in Fig. 2 to the position shown by full lines in said figure, there being nothing that can possibly stop the movement of the said electrode 12 between these points. After the action just described has taken place the contact or electrode 11 moves to the position shown by full lines in Fig. 2, leaving ample room for the electrode 12 to move upwardly again to its dotted-line position before the electrode 11 is returned to its dotted-line position. It is to be understood that in the upward movement of the rod 30 the contact of the edge 29 with the stud 32 takes place sufficiently in advance of the upward swing of the electrode 11 to carry the electrode 12 up first. The dash-pot arrangement enables me to get a long or a short contact, and therefore a large or small spark, as required to suit the quality of the gas or explosive mixture used.

Having now described my invention, What I claim is- 1. A sparking device for explosive-engines comprising two movable contact-points 0r electrodes one adapted to make wiping contact with the other, and means for adjusting the speed of the wiping action.

2. In combination with the cylinder of a gas-engine, two contact-points or electrodes mounted in said cylinder, one havinga wiping contact with the other, and means for adjusting the speed of such contact.

3. A sparking device for explosive-engines comprising two movable contact-points or electrodes one having means for positively moving it to a position preparatory to contact while the second is out of the path of movement of the first, and means including a spring for causing the first to move with a wiping contact across the second after the latter has returned into said path of movement, whereby stationary contact at any time between the two electrodes is rendered impossible.

et. The combination with the cylinder of a gas-engine, of two rock-shafts mounted therein, electrodes carried by the inner ends of the rock-shafts, means for rocking the shafts to cause one electrode to make wiping contact with the other, the connections being such as to prevent contact between the electrodes during their movements in the opposite direction.

5. The combination with the cylinder of a gas-engine, of two rock-shafts mounted therein, electrodes carried by the inner ends of the rock-shafts, means for primarily rocking one shaft, connections whereby the rocking of the other shaft follows that of the first, means whereby the electrode of the last-mentioned shaft makes a wiping contact with the electrode of the other shaft, the connections being such as to prevent contact between the electrodes during their movements in the opposite direction.

6. The combination with the cylinder of a gas-engine, of two rock-shafts mounted therein, electrodes carried by the inner ends of the rock-shafts, means for primarily rocking one shaft, connections whereby the rocking of the other shaft follows that of the first, means including a spring whereby the electrode of the last-mentioned shaft is returned to its normal position to cause its electrode to make a wiping contact with the electrode of the first-mentioned shaft, the connections being such as to prevent contact between the electrodes during their movements in the opposite direction.

7. The combination with the cylinder of a gas-engine, of two rock-shafts mounted therein, electrodes carried by the inner ends of the rock-shafts, means for actuating one shaft in advance of the other, connections whereby the other shaft is moved in one direction by the movement of the first-mentioned shaft, a spring for imparting a return movement to the last-mentioned shaft, and means for retarding said return movement of the springactuated shaft.

8. The combination with the cylinder of a gasengine, of two rock-shafts mounted therein, electrodes carried by the inner ends of the rock-shafts, means for actuating one shaft in advance of the other, connections whereby the other shaft is moved in one direction by the movement of the first-mentioned shaft, a spring for imparting a return movement to the last-mentioned shaft, and means for adj ustably retarding said return movement of the spring-actuated shaft.

9. The combination with the cylinder of a gas-engine, of the rock-shafts 13, 145 having electrodes 11, 12 at their inner ends, the arm 20 secured to the shaft 13, the plate 21 loose on the shaft and having arm 22, means for adjusting the arms 20, 22 relatively to each other, a plate 27 loose on the shaft 13, a spring connecting the plates 21 and 27, a stud 32 carried by shaft 14 and adapted to be acted upon by a bearing edge carried by the plate 27, means for imparting an oscillating movement to the plate 27, and a spring for actuating the shaft 14 in the reverse direction to that imparted by the said bearing edge.

10. The combination with the cylinder of a gas-engine, of the rock-shafts 13, 14 having electrodes 11, 12 at their inner ends, the arm 20 secured to the shaft 13, the plate 21 loose on the shaft and having arm 22, means for adjusting the arms 20, 22' relatively to each other, a plate 27 loose on the shaft 13, a spring connecting the plates 21 and 27, a stud 32 carried by shaft 14 and adapted to be acted upon by a bearing edge carried by the plate 27, means for imparting an oscillating movement to the plate 27 a spring for actuating the shaft 14 in the reverse direction to that imparted by the said bearing edge, an arm 31 carried by the shaft 14 and a dash-pot oper- 'atively connected with said arm 31.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

THEODORE S. GLOVER,

W'itnesses:

A. M. Woosrnn, S. W. ATHERTON. 

